Primary day in Illinois—RGA launches second ad against Sheheen in S.C.—American Bridge hits RNC over autopsy anniversary—Brownback goes on air in Kansas—Collin Peterson announces reelect in MN-07

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HAPPENING TODAY—ILLINOIS PRIMARY: Voters head to the polls in Illinois today, where a gubernatorial primary and a handful of House contests will be worth paying attention to. On the statewide level, four candidates are vying to take on unpopular Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn; GOP businessman Bruce Rauner has consistently led the pack in recent polling and is expected to win the primary tonight. While much of the House action in Illinois isn’t until the general election, one race in particular—for GOP Rep. Rodney Davis’s seat in the 13th district—will have primaries to watch on both sides today. Davis is facing a challenge from Erika Harold, a Republican and a former Miss America; on the Democratic side, DCCC-backed candidate Ann Callis will face professor George Gollin. Another race to watch is the 16th district, where incumbent GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger is facing a primary challenge from a little-known opponent; he’s expected to win handily, but it’s worth paying attention to his margin of victory.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE RAISES THE CURTAIN: “For Democrats, there’s not as much at stake. Gov. Pat Quinn faces a minor primary challenge and the other statewide offices are uncontested. There are, however, some races for Illinois House and Senate and Cook County Board. The lack of action on the Democratic primary ballot is a far cry from four years ago. Quinn, a year after taking office following Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, sought election for governor for the first time and defeated then-Comptroller Dan Hynes in a spirited contest. … Early voting, which ran from March 3 through Saturday, indicated that Republican turnout could remain low and perhaps comparable to four years ago, when the primary election was held in early February. In 2010, more than 760,000 Republican and more than 910,000 Democratic primary ballots were cast statewide for governor. Early voting was up by 1,500 in McHenry County, fewer than 1,000 votes in DuPage and Will counties and by about 150 ballots at the Aurora Election Commission. In contrast, early voting was down nearly 9,000 ballots in heavily Democratic Chicago, almost 2,500 in Lake County and by almost 800 in suburban Cook County.” http://goo.gl/87hNif

DEMOCRATIC POPULIST PLAN COMES INTO QUESTION: POLITICO'S Ben White and Maggie Haberman report: “Fresh off a bruising loss in Florida, the Democratic playbook for the midterms appears in need of a major rewrite — and the pro-business wing of the party is ready to draw up new plans. … The Democratic power elite now believe that appeals to raise the minimum wage and extend unemployment insurance are not enough to overcome Obama’s deep unpopularity and frustration with the president’s signature health care law. They fear that unless Democrats shift footing to a more hopeful, growth-based message, the party could lose the Senate and drop double-digit seats in the House. ‘Reducing inequality is good, but it’s 50 times better to do it by lifting those up who are low than by tearing those down who are high,’ said Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary whose bid to become Fed chair got derailed by the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party.” http://goo.gl/QvhRGO

SCORE EXCLUSIVE—RGA LAUNCHES NEW ATTACK ON SHEHEEN: The Republican Governors Association is going up with its second ad against Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen in South Carolina, this time hitting him over Obamacare. The ad features Gregg Hughes, a small business owner in Easley, S.C. “When I first got the notice of the [Obamacare] increase, I had this sinking feeling in my stomach. It started at 30 percent. To look somebody in the eye and say ‘We can’t give you a raise, I’m sorry, we no longer have the option’—Obamacare has cost jobs in my company,” he says. “It’s a slap in the face to small businesses around the country. The fact that Vincent Sheheen supports Obamacare means he doesn’t support South Carolina and he doesn’t support small business.” The ad takes a slightly different tack than the RGA’s first South Carolina ad, which hit Sheheen over the federal Medicaid expansion—and Sheheen’s campaign fired back that RGA Chairman Chris Christie accepted the Medicaid expansion in New Jersey. Sheheen is running against GOP Gov. Nikki Haley, who he lost to in 2010. Watch: http://goo.gl/2aibI5

GOP REBRAND ANNIVERSARY—The pro-Democratic research group American Bridge is hitting the Republican National Committee for the first anniversary of its “Growth and Opportunity Project.” Watch the video: http://goo.gl/dJcyN0

As Collin Peterson gets in for another round, Sam Brownback goes on the air and Edwin Edwards is back in the headlines, here’s POLITICO’s Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 231.

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Good Tuesday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to eschultheis@politico.com or tweet them to @emilyrs.

BROWNBACK TO LAUNCH TV ADS IN KANSAS: POLITICO’s Alex Burns scoops: “Road Map Solutions, a pro-Brownback group closely tied to the Republican governor, has reserved airtime starting Tuesday. Media trackers said the buy is a significant booking in the Wichita and Topeka markets; neither the full-dollar value nor the content of the ads were immediately available. Brownback, a former U.S. senator and 2008 presidential candidate, is favored to win reelection in conservative Kansas. But Brownback’s at-times contentious first term as governor — he has battled with the legislature over sweeping tax overhaul proposals — has raised some Democratic hopes for a competitive race. Paul Davis, the Democratic leader in the Kansas House of Representatives, announced a challenge to Brownback last year.” http://goo.gl/YfdRsx

COLLIN PETERSON DECIDES TO RUN: Less than a week after Democrats’ loss in Florida’s 13th district, the party got some good news Monday when twelve-term incumbent Rep. Collin Peterson opted to run again for his seat in Minnesota’s 7th district. Peterson is one of the few Democrats left in Republican-leaning seats: the district went 54 percent for Mitt Romney in 2012, but Peterson won reelection that year with 60 percent of the vote. Democrats had acknowledged it would be tough to hold the seat without Peterson on the ballot, so it’s a good sign for them that he’s opting to run again. An internal NRCC poll last month (reported first here in Score: http://goo.gl/ja7tKa) found Peterson with a 58 percent approval rating, much higher than other endangered Democratic incumbents; he led Republican Torrey Westrom on an initial ballot by 7 points (though Westrom took the lead after respondents were read information about each candidate). Regardless, this is bound to be one of the most competitive races on the map this year. http://goo.gl/x60S1u

MAINE FILING DEADLINE: The filing deadline for candidates in Maine was Monday. No big news on the statewide level, where vulnerable GOP Gov. Paul LePage is running for a second term and GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for reelection as well; however, state Republicans fielded candidates for all 151 state House seats, the first time in almost a decade they’ve done so. http://goo.gl/xsFo7y

ACROSS THE MAP—Quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE—

-CO-Sen: GOP state Sen. Owen Hill ended his campaign late Monday night in an email to supporters, giving Rep. Cory Gardner a clear path at the GOP nomination.

-MI-Sen: Democratic Rep. Gary Peters is leading Republican Terri Lynn Land among likely voters, 40 percent to 37 percent, within the margin of error, according to a new poll from Denno Research commissioned by Lambert, Edwards & Associates. http://goo.gl/6N30Uu

-More MI-Sen: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, chair of the RGA, will host a fundraiser for Land on Wednesday. http://goo.gl/K2Aj4T

-NE-Sen: GOP candidate Shane Osborn released a new TV ad Monday, part of an $80,000 buy, touting his career as a Navy pilot and calling for voters to elect "conservatives strong enough to act, not just talk." http://goo.gl/cj6VYl

-SC-Sen: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham released a new campaign ad emphasizing his conservative foreign policy record, part of a six-figure radio and television ad buy. http://goo.gl/kWTKaU

HOUSE—

-TX-04 scoop: A new poll, commissioned by the group Now or Never PAC and conducted by Wenzel Strategies, finds GOP challenger John Ratcliffe beating incumbent GOP Rep. Ralph Hall by 12 points ahead of the runoff election. http://goo.gl/lXIPeV

-CA-33: Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a Republican, endorsed Democratic state Sen. Ted Lieu in the race to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Henry Waxman. http://goo.gl/oBnbfS

-LA-06: Disgraced former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, the 86-year-old Democrat, announced he would run for the open congressional seat just three years after his release from federal prison on extortion charges. http://goo.gl/yowx6j

-AZ-02: The LIBRE Initiative, a conservative Latino group, says it will spend $500,000 in ads against Democratic Rep. Ron Barber. More than a quarter of the district’s voters are Hispanic. http://goo.gl/WmF7md

-VA-10: Democrats in the Northern Virginia 10th district have canceled their party convention now that the Democratic field in the race has narrowed to just Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust. http://goo.gl/e3cIGB

GOVERNORS—

-FL-Gov: A recent University of North Florida poll has Democrat Charlie Crist with a slight lead over incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Scott, 34 percent to 33 percent. The poll reportedly offered “someone else” as an option, reflected in the candidates’ low vote shares. http://goo.gl/OYXJAG

-IL-Gov: The last big poll before primary day, from robopollster We Ask America, found businessman Bruce Rauner with a 17-point lead over his closest challenger in the GOP gubernatorial primary. http://goo.gl/VlRhfe

CODA—QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I acknowledge there are good reasons I should not run. But there are better reasons why I should.” —Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, on why he’s running for Congress http://goo.gl/0vZ5BH

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Send to a friendPrimary day in Illinois—RGA launches second ad against Sheheen in S.C.—American Bridge hits RNC over autopsy anniversary—Brownback goes on air in Kansas—Collin Peterson announces reelect in MN-07